Faculty Research Connections Profile
Mark Pizzato earned a Ph.D. in English from UW-Milwaukee, an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Dramatic Writing from the Catholic University of America, and a B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame. He has published seven books, including Edges of Loss (1998), Theatres of Human Sacrifice: From Ancient Ritual to Screen Violence (2005), Ghosts of Theatre and Cinema in the Brain (2006), Inner Theatres of Good and Evil: The Mind's Staging of Gods, Angels and Devils (2011), and Beast-People Onscreen and in Your Brain: The Evolution of Animal-Humans from Prehistoric Cave Art to Modern Movies (2016). He also co-edited Death in American Texts and Performances (2010). His new book is Mapping Global Theatre Histories (2019). He is currently completing a book project on "European Churches and Chinese Temples as Neuro-Performance Sites."
He teaches theatre history, dramaturgy, performance theory, playwriting, screenwriting, and various topics in film. Short films, produced from his screenplays, have won New York Film Festival and Minnesota Community Television awards. Dr. Pizzato blogs about his research at mpizzato.wordpress.com. He also participates in the iTunes podcast: "Conversations about Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed."
For more about his books, please see:
- Mapping Global Theatre Histories (2019)
- Beast-People Onscreen and in Your Brain: The Evolution of Animal-Humans from Prehistoric Cave Art to Modern Movies (2016)
- Inner Theatres of Good and Evil: The Mind's Staging of Gods, Angels and Devils (2011)
- Death in American Texts and Performances: Corpses, Ghosts, and the Reanimated Dead (2010)
- Ghosts of Theatre and Cinema in the Brain (2006)
- Theatres of Human Sacrifice: From Ancient Ritual to Screen Violence (2005)
- Edges of Loss: From Modern Drama to Postmodern Theory (1998)